In India majority of Hindu religious leaders ( sadhus swamis shankarcharyas etc) don't have college/university education........whereas majority of catholic religious leaders ( bishops, parishpriests etc ) had completed their college/university education before joining the religious profession........a large number of middle/upper class Hindus in India have completed their school education from catholic institutions, schools, convents, etc run & managed by catholic clergy, nuns, etc.........but it is not the middle/upper class hindus......it is the Lay Catholics who have to come out in defence of the catholic church, clergy, missionaries, nuns during times of crisis like in 1998-99 & 2008 when the catholic church, clergy, nuns, missionaries came under attack from right wing hindu groups.........majority of the Lay catholics in India especially from poor castes completed their school education from government, municipal and other non-catholic schools.
The Archbishop of Bombay ( www BOMBAYLAND.BLOGSPOT com ) did not attend the Azad Maidan rally that was organized on 15 March 2014 by some lay catholic groups to protest against the anti-catholic policies of the Maharashtra government & BMC for reasons best known to him................Catholics in Bombay need Archbishops, Bishops & Parish Priests who can take active part in political demonstrations and who can meet Ministers, MPs, MLAs, Corporators, Collectors, Commissioners, etc to discuss the various unemployment, housing and other problems that are faced by the bombay catholics decade after decade.............at the moment there is only one lay catholic group ( Mobai Gaothan Panchayat in English also known as Bombay Villagers Association ) whose 30 point agenda includes matters related to improving the health wealth housing jobs land-holdings & security of the bombay catholics.................Lay Christian groups in India who are working for the welfare of poor christians are not receiving funds from western countries......whereas.....Christian Missionary groups in India who are working for the welfare of poor non-christians are receiving funds from western countries. The population of Jains in India is between 5 to 10 million and they are scattered in tiny numbers in different states.............the Jains are pre-occupied with their business & trading activities and it is unlikely they will waste their time voting during elections........the Jains got their minority status from 12 different states and also a national minority status from the centre without resorting to any street demonstrations whereas the Dalit Catholics have been agitating for the last 4 decades for reservation status without any success................it appears that the Jain community is most probably donating money to some politicians in the two main political groups in India to get their work done.........also the Jain community are known to donate money to right wing hindu groups which explains why these groups don't target the Jain community............it is only Christians & Muslims in India who face religious discrimination & persecution in India and it is very unfortunate that the Central/State governments have included communities like Jains in minority list who don't face any problems in India from the majority Hindu community and the State Machinery. The population of Catholics in India is between 10 to 20 million and decade after decade Catholics in India have mostly voted for one secular political group but that political group has turned a blind eye to the various unemployment housing & economic problems of catholics.........before voting for any political group the lay catholics should first put forward their demands to the state leaders of different political groups and only those political group which is prepared to meet the demands should get the catholic votes otherwise there is no point in catholics wasting their time voting during elections ................ the current lot of news channels ( ndtv timesnow cnnibn newsx headlinestoday etc) never bother to give any coverage to issues related to catholics/christians in India for example not a single English TV news channel bothered to give coverage to the catholic rally that was recently organized at Azad Maidan ........some influential catholics in bombay were meeting once a month in order to discuss the shareholdings, studios, funds, permissions, etc needed to start a TV channel by the name GEMS TV to give coverage to catholic/christian issues in India.........how far the discussion has gone it is not known. The Protestant Britishers owned East India company allowed people from Gujarat, Maharashtra, etc to settle on the lands of Catholics in Bombay (including Salsette island) as well as took away large tracts of catholic lands through the Draconian Land Acquisition act...........it is very funny that the catholic villagers of bombay/salsette are identifying themselves with the name EastIndians.................The BombayVillagers ( www BOMBAYLAND.BLOGSPOT com ) alias EastIndians have been reduced to a backward & poor class because all their agricultural lands ponds wells lakes vegetable fields rice fields saltpanlands forestlands was grabbed by the British govt , Indian govt , Maharashtra govt , BMC, mmrda, sra, mhada, airportsauthority, railways, illegal-migrants, landmafia, slumdwellers, buildersmafia, right wing hindu groups.....AND......genetic problems of alcoholism infighting jealousy gossiping....AND.....daily consumption of the unhealthy & unhygienic bakery maida pavs.....AND......lack of interest in working towards becoming ias ips ifs irs officers doctors engineers shopkeepers traders goldsmiths diamond merchants entrepreneurs etc.....AND.....lack of interest in applying for government jobs, bank jobs, police jobs, railway jobs, aviation jobs, etc......AND......giving too much importance for the catholic clergy who never had any interest in improving the health wealth housing jobs land-holdings & security of the catholic villagers of bombay. Christians/Catholics in India don't indulge in terrrorrist activities, antti-national activities, smuggling/underworld activities......dont indulge in cheating & corruption activities......dont indulge in arson looting rioting activities........dont indulge in communal & fundamentalist activities......dont indulge in criminal activities........don't indulge in encroaching openspaces mangroves collectors lands to create slums......don't indulge in female foeticide/infanticide.......dont indulge in overpopulation activities.........AND.....christians/catholics marry at a late age and are content with 1 or maximum 2 children and are extremely secular & work with honesty and dedication wherever they work..........but in-spite of being very peaceful & law abiding citizens why do christians/catholics in India face religious persecution & discrimination ?. The growth of slums & illegal building constructions in the 4500 sq km bombay metropolitan region will only stop when the Indian government & state governments strictly enforce 2 child policy in rural & backward districts & towns of India and also the infrastructure industries job-opportunities is improved in the rural, backward districts & towns..........the Election Commission of India will also have to prevent Politicians who have links with slumlords landmafia & builders lobby from contesting elections in this bombay metropolitan region. The Bible does not say that if you don't attend next weeks Sunday mass or church service or revival meeting then you have denied the Christian faith and you are worse than an infidel in Gods eyes...........the Bible says that if you have not taken care of the financial needs of your household/family then you have denied the Christian faith and you are worse than an infidel in Gods eyes.........ofcourse Christians should go to the Church atleast once a week.......but why waste time hearing and bearing the repetitive rituals & sermons of the Clergy.........the correct thing to do for the lay Christians is go to the church and put candles, garlands at the statues of Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Various Saints and do a short prayer and move on. Jorge Monteiro Bombay.
